Half to itattie i



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. H. HEMENWAY. ONVIOB FON OPENING AND OLOSINO DOORS.

Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

Hagi.

Ilm/ENTER. (5m/75%? (No Modl.)

WITNEEEEE.

6 LM/ In@ 7. 7..

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. H. HEMENWAY. DEVICE EOE OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

INVENTDFI.

Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

UNirEn STATES PATENT OEEICE.

EDSON ll. IIEMENYVAY, OF LOVELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- llALF TO HATTIE l. BEIIARREL, OF SAME PLAGE.

DEVICE FOR OPENBNG AND CLOSING DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,181, dated April 22, 1890.

Application filed October 4, 1889i Serial No. 325,965. (No model.)

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Com monwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Devices for Opening and Closing Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for opening and closing doors, especially the large double doors of re-engine houses, hose-earriage houses, and stables; and it consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, which have for their object to open such doors automatically upon the drawing of a bolt, to hold the doors open for a definite time of sufiicient duration to allow an engine or carriage to be drawn through t-he doors, and then to close the doors automatically and lock them.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an inside elevation of a pair of double doors and of the wall adjacent thereto, and of the ceiling above said doors and wall, and of my improvement applied to such doors, ceiling, and wall; Fig. 2, a plan of the arrangement of the pulleys and cords, the position of said pulleys and cords when the doors are closed being shown by full lines, and the position ofthe doors and of a part ofthe cords when the doors are open being shown by dotted lines; Fig. 3, an inside elevation, er an elevation of the side next the doors, of the clock, the tree ends of the cords or the portions of the cords farthest from the weights and nearest the clock, the clock being in a position to retain the cords; Fig. 4,like Fig. 3, except that the clock has turned to a position adapted to release one of the cords; Fig. 5, a front or rear elevation of one of the catches; Fig. 6, a front elevation of a part of the door and the adjacent part of the door-casing, showing a bell-crank lever pivoted on said casing and a projection on the door arranged to strike the vertical arm of said lever when the door is opened; Fig. 7, a front elevation of the clock, one of the catches, and the adjacent part of one of the cords; Fig. 8, a plan of the parts shown in Fig. G; Fig. 9, a section of one side of the Weight-shaft, showing a front clevation of the weight and the devices which prevent vibration of the door when the same is opened to its greatest extent; Fig. 10, an inside elevation of a part of a door and casing and a door-cheek applied thereto, the barrel of said check being in vert-ical section; Fig. 1l, a horizontal section of a part of the door and casing and a plan of said cheek, the door being represented as closed in full lines, and the dotted lines representing the position of the door and check when the door is open; Fig. l2, an outside elevation of adjacent part-s of double doors and key-hole, and in dotted lines parts of the cords and the lever to which they are connected.

A represents the wall; the line F the door; the line C the ceiling; D D', the doors, one of which D may be provided with a strip d, secured to its lock-style and reaching over the crack between the doors when the doors are closed d', spring-latches secured to the door D and entering mortises in the edge of the loelestyle of the door D; d2 d3, spring-bolts secured to the standing door D and entering mortises or sockets in the top of the doorframe, these parts being all of the usual construction and operation.

To the lock-style of the door D is pivoted a lever d", having arms of equal length, one of said arms being connected by a cord, chain, or wire d5 to the bolt d2, and the other arm of said lever being similarly connected by a cord, chain, or wire d to the bolt d3, so that turning said lever d'1 in one direction will draw both of said bolts. A cord (ZT is attached to one end of said lever and passes up over a pulley P1l or more than one pulley, as may be desired, to bring the free end of said cord within reach of the driver of the engine or carriage when seated on said carriage or engine, the end oi said cord being provided with a suitable ring or handle (Z8, adapted to be grasped by the hand. The doors when unbolted are opened bythe tallingof theweigllts 1V XV. The cord K is doubled and attached to the weight NV, one branch 7a of said cord passing over the pulley P, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) thence over a pulley P2, secured to the door D, thence over a pulley P", secured to the ceiling, thence over a pulley PG, also secured to the ceiling, then to or through a catch w, being fastened either to said catch or running freely through a hole 102, and being secured to a screw-eye or staple 104, driven into the wall. It is evident that if the catch be rig, idly, held, the weight being in a raised position and the door D unbolted, said door will be opened by the falling of the Weight. The other branch of said cord K is carried over the pulley P8, secured to the wall in the rear of the pulley P, thence over the pulley P10, supported upon the door-casing above said door, thence over a pulley P12, supported upon the door, the free end ot' said branch of the cord being connected to another Weight V, which is guided vertically by an eye fu, secured thereto and surrounding a guide wire or rod Q22, secured at its ends to the door D. When the door D is opened by the falling of the weight W, the small weight V is drawn to its highest position, so that if the catch tu is then released the further descent of the Weight XV will close said door D'.

The weight W is connected to a cord K in substantially the manner above described with reference to the cord K and weight W, theV cord K being doubled andV one branch thereof passing overpulleys P P3, secured to the ceiling, thence over a pulley P5, secured to the door, thence over a pulley P7, and to or through the catch w. If through said catch, then to a screw-eye or staple w5, secured to the wall of the building, the other branch of said cord K passing over pulleys P9 P, secured to the wall or door-casing, then over a pulley P13, secured to the door D', the free end of said cord being attached to a small weight V', guided by the'guide wire 0r rod r3, in the inanner above described with reference to the Weight V and guide-rod U2. Itis evident that if the door D be free to open and the catch w be held rigidly the descent of the weight WV will open said door, but that if the catch be subsequently released the further descent of said last-named weight Will cause said door` to close. The catches w w are alike, being preferably made of sheet metal and substantially of the form shown in Fig. 5, each catch being providedV with an eye or hole 102, into which its cord is tied securely or through which said cord slips freely, the latter method being preferred, because when the catch is free to move on the cord and the end of the cord is secured to the wall, as above described, the movement of the'catch when let go is only one-half as great as when the catch is fastened to 'the end of the cord, and allows of the clock-work, hereinafter described, being arranged at a greater height and in a more convenient position to be Wound, cleaned, and engaged with the catch. The catches are each provided with a shoulder w6 107, which, with the parts below the same, enter a vertical slot in the frame-plate Z of the clock T, the latter being a springpr0pelled train of wheels, having on its inain shaft a disk t',

having a notch t2, said disk being set so near the slotted frame-plate as to hold the catches in their slots until the notch of the disk, passing by the catches, allows them to be drawn out of said slot by the strain of weights W W upon the cords K K the disk t revolving in such a direction as to release the catch w and allow the standing door D to be shut and locked first, and subsequently releasing the catch w and allowing the door D to be shut and locked to said standing door by the springlatches CZ above mentioned. The disk t can be turned by the fingers freely on its shaft in one direction, but is prevented from turning on said shaft inthe other direction by a pawlnt3, pivoted on said disk and engaging the ratchet t4, fast on said shaft.

By varying the distance of the notch t2 from the catch w, the time during which the doors will remain open may be varied. The clock runs only when the door is open, being prevented at other times from moving by a weighted arm t5, pivoted to the wall and normally resting upon the escapelnent 15G of the clock. A wire t7 is secured at one end to the Weighted arm t5, and at the other end to the free end of the lower horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever t8, pivoted on the wall A. The other end of said bell-crank lever is connected by a wire t to the free end of the vertical upper arm of another bell-crank lever tm, also pivoted on said wall, and the free lower end of the vertical arm of said last-named bell-crank is struck when the door D is opened by a projection tu, secured to the hanging style of said last-n amed door, with the effect of lifting the weighted arm Z5 by means of said bell-crank levers and wires o from the escapement t6 and allowing the clock to run. As the doors open together and the door D is the last to close, the clock runs all the time from the opening of the doors by the pulling of the cord CZ7 until both doors are closed.

To prevent the rebounding of the doors or their swaying when iirst fully opened, I use the devices best shown in Fig. 9, where L is a triangular piece or weight-lock pivoted at one corner Zthereof and free to swing within a vertical slotje)5 inthe side of the weight-shaft in such a manner that its Weight causes one of its lower corners Z2 to hang normally within the path of the weight NV, which in descending pushes the said piece L aside and allows said weight NV to descend below it, and then swings over said weight and prevents the same from rising. After the doors have remained open for a sufficient length of time and the catches are released the weight falls to the bottom of its course and closes the door, as above described. When the weight is again raised, its upper edge strikes against the lower nearly-horizontal arm of a releasing-lever Z4, causing the same to turn upon its fulcrum Z6, and throwing the upper arin Z8 of said releasing-lever outward.` The upper end of said releasing-lever engages a notch Z10 in the bottoni of the Weight-lock L and throws IOO IIO

said lock outol' the path of the rising weight. The Weight-lock L', pivoted at Z', its lower corner ZS, the releasing-lever Zi", turning upon the pivot Z7, and having an upper arin Z9, which engages a notch l in the bottom of the weight-lock L', have the saine relation to the weight lV as the parts of the same name above described have to the'weight XV.

To enable the doors to be opened from the outside of the same, the shaft of the lever d* reaches through the door, and at its outer end is square or diamond-shaped to enter a wrench or key having a hole ot' corresponding shape.

The devices herein described are equally applicable to sliding doors or to moving any objects successively in opposite directions.

The door-cheek M consists of a cylinder m, open at one end m and closed at the other end m2, or end nearest the hanging style of the door, said cylinder being hinged or pivoted in a bracket m3, secured upon the inner side ot' the door, a piston mi and a piston-rod m5, hinged to the door-casing or wall of the building at on and bent into the form of the letter J, the short arm of said rod entering the open Aend of the cylinder and being secured to the piston. The piston 'mit is a cylindrical block closely fitting the cylinder, and is provided with a hole mi, extending through said piston parallel with the axis of the same, to allo7 the air to pass frcel y through the same when the door is being opened, and thus to otter no hinderance to the opening of the door, saidpiston being provided with a .flap-valve m8, which closes when the door is being closed. An air-chamber on is secured to the side of the cylinder m, and two openings m10 m lead from said cylinder into said air-chamber, these openings being so arranged that when the door is open and begins to close the piston is between the open end of the cylinder and the openingm10 nearest said open end7 and the closing of the door compresses the air in. the cylinder and air-chamber and prevents the door from closing too rapidly; but when the door is nearly closed the piston passes beyond the openin g m10 and allows the compressed air to escape from the cylinder through the opening zT/U into the air-chamber, and through the opening m10 back into the cylinder and out of the open end of said cylinder, the check at this time offering practically no resistance to the closing of the door. The door-check l\.l therefore merely prevents the slamming or too violent closing of the door. Obviously the small weights V V may be dispensed with, and those branches of the cords which close the doors may be attached directly to the doors, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, in which ease these branches will be slack. when the doors are closed, and their slack will be taken up by the falling of the weights XV lV to open the doors, so that when the last-named weights fall the second time they will close the doors, as above described, the weights V V merely serving to keep the closing branches of the cords K K taut and to prevent them from becoming knotted or tangled with each other and from getting out oi their grooves in the pulleys. Obviously each branch or part ot each cord or rope K K-that is, the parts which open the doors and the parts which close the doors-might be separate cords or ropes.

l claim as my inventionl. The combination ot' a door having a latch, a rope, one or more guidepulleys, a suspended weight attached to said rope between its ends, the branches or parts ot said rope between said weight and said ends being connected to said door and each part arranged to draw said door in an opposite direction to that in which it is drawn by t-he other part thereof, a catch on the part of said rope which closes said door, arranged to hold said last-named part of said rope taut, in order that the falling of said weight when said latch is opened may open said door and take up the slack of the other part of said rope, and in order that the releasing of said catch may allow the further falling of said weight to close said door, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a door having a latch, a rope, one or more guide-pulleys, a suspended weight attached to' said rope between its ends, the branches or parts of said rope between said weight and said ends being connected to said door and each part arranged to draw said door in an opposite direction to that in which it is drawn by the other part thereof, a catch on the part of said rope which closes said door, a clock-work arranged to retain said catch for a definite time to allowsaid door to be opened by the falling ot said weight, and then to release said catch and to siacken the part of said rope which carries said catch and allow said door to be closed bythe further falling of said weight, as and for the purpose specified.

TOO

IIO

8. The combination of a door having a latch,

a rope, one or more guide-pulleys, a suspended rope attached to said rope between its ends, the parts of said rope between said weight and said ends being connected to said door, and each part being arranged to draw said door in an opposite direction to that in which said door is drawn by the other part thereof, a catch on the part ot said rope which closes said door, sai d catch having a shoulder, a clock-work having a frame provided with a slotl to receive said catch, a disk rotated by said clock-work, arranged to hold said catch in said slot and said shoulder in engagement with said frame, said disk having a notch to allow said catch to be disengaged, whereby the opening of said latch will allow said door to be drawn open by the falling of said weight and to take up the slack of the part of the rope which closes said door, and the disengagement of said catch will allow said door to be closed by the further falling of said weight, as and 'for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of a door having a latch, a rope, one or more guide-pulleys, a suspended weight attached to said rope between its ends,

the parts of said rope between said weight` and said ends being connected to said door and each part arranged to draw said door in an Opposite direction to that in which it is drawn bythe other part thereof, a catch on the part of said rope which closes said door, a clock-work arranged to retain said catch for a definite time to allow said door to be opened by the falling of said Weight and then to release said catch and to slacken the part of said rope which carries said catch and allow said door to be closed by the further falling of said weight, said clock being provided with an escapement, a weight normally resting upon said escapement and preventing the operation of said clock when the door is closed, and a lever connected to said weight and adapted to be struckl and turned by said door when the same is opened and to allow said -clock to operate, as and for thepurpose speci- 5. The combination of a door, a weight, a rope connecting said weight and said door, and adapted by the falling of said weight to draw said door open and by the further falling of said weight to close said door, and a catch arranged to prevent the rising of said weight when the door is opened, and thus to prevent the swaying of said door, as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of a door, a weight, a rope connecting said weight and said door,

and adapted by the falling of said weight tol draw said door open and by the further falling of said weight to close said door, and a catch arranged to prevent the rising of said weight when the door is opened, and thus to prevent the swaying of said door, and a lever connected with said catch and adapted to be struck by the rising of said weight after the closing of said door and to move said catch out of the path of said weight, as and for the purpose specified.

7. The combination of a door, a'weight, a rope connecting said weight and said door, and adapted by the falling of said weight to draw said door open and by the further falling of said weight to close said ldoor, and a triangular catch pivoted at one corner, and adapted by its weight to swing into the path of said weight and to be moved aside by the falling of said weight, and subsequently to swing over said Weight and prevent the rising of the saine when the door is opened, as and for the purpose specified.

8. The combination of a door, a weight, a rope connecting said weight and said door, adapted by the falling of said weight to draw said door open and by the further falling of said weight to close said door, and a triangular catch pivoted at one corner, and adapted by its weight to swing into the path of said weight and to be moved aside by the falling of said weight, and'subsequently to swing over said weight and prevent the rising of the same when the door is opened, said catch being provided with a notch, and a lever engaging said notch in said catch, and adapted to be struck by the rising of said weight after the closing of said door and to move said catch out of the path of said weight, as and for the purpose specified.

9. The combination of two doors, springV bolts secured to one of said doors, a lever pivoted on the inside of said last-named door, and having one end thereof connected to one of said bolts and the other end to the other of said bolts, the shaft of said lever eXtend ing through said door, and having an end adapted to be engaged by a wrench from the outside of said door, and the other of said doors having latches to engage said rstnamed door to enable both of said doors to be opened from the outside, as and for the purpose specied.

l0. The combination of two doors, two weights, and two ropes or cords by which said weights are suspended, each on a separate rope between the ends thereof,a part of each rope between said weight and the end thereof being connected to one of said doors and arranged to open the same, and the other part ot said rope being connected to one of said doors and arranged to close the same, catches arranged one on the part ot each rope which opens a door to hold said last-named part of each rope taut, in order that the falling of said weights may iirst open said doors and take up the slack of the other parts of said ropes, and in order that the releasing of said catches may allow the further falling of said weights to close said doors, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have signed this speci- `cation, in the presence of two attesting wit- ALBERT M. MOORE, MYRTIE C. BEALs.

Ioo 

